


Zidàn

by Brynn_Jones



Series: Badass Melinda May [4]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Angst, BAMF Melinda May, F/M, Hurt Melinda May, Jealousy, Pre-Relationship, Season/Series 01, The Cavalry Melinda May
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-24
Updated: 2018-01-24
Packaged: 2019-03-09 00:41:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13470048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brynn_Jones/pseuds/Brynn_Jones
Summary: May gets seriously injured during a mission. How will the rest of the team deal under the circumstances? And what secrets will come out?





	Zidàn

**Author's Note:**

> 子彈 (zǐdàn) = bullet
> 
> Thank you to my helpful beta eureka1 :)

Phil saw the dark, ominous circle of the gun muzzle aimed at him and knew he was too late to do anything about it. Sure, if he were a ninja, he could probably move fast enough to avoid the bullet coming his way, but he was no May, so it was going to be painful at best or deadly at worst.

He blinked, the small movement seemingly taking minutes instead of the fraction of a second it really did, before watching in slow motion and with great attention as the perp pulled the trigger. The metal pin inside the gun hit the end of the cartridge and the next thing Phil knew, a heavy weight barreled into him, spinning him around and pushing him out of balance. His ears were ringing as several loud bangs in quick succession ripped through the air.

He waited for the searing pain of a piece of metal shredding his insides to register but nothing happened - there was just a warm, wet weight pressed against his back. Uh-oh, if he couldn’t feel anything, the projectile had probably lodged itself somewhere in his spine, ridding him of sensation.

“May!” came Ward’s shout a second later, waking Phil from his dream-like stupor. “May!”

A harsh gasp sent a warm gust of air across the back of his neck, and Coulson started to realise what had happened. He could feel strong arms clutching at his sides, the weight of a body against his back, and the sticky, wet feeling of blood seeping into his shirt.

“Melinda,” he breathed, quickly turning around and grabbing her so she wouldn’t slump to the floor. There was a painful grimace on her face but a look of satisfied determination in her eyes.

Ward appeared at their side, hands going around the Asian specialist’s waist in support. “Come on, May, let’s lay you down,” he told the woman, slowly sliding her down to lie on the ground.

Melinda tried to speak but instead only coughed, red bubbles of spit appearing at the corners of her mouth, eyes intent on Phil, flitting over his body as if to check for injuries. “Don’t speak, May, I’m fine,” he told her as he crouched by her side. “I promise.”

Ward snarled at him, “Of course  _ you’re  _ fine, she took three bullets for you.”

Before Coulson could say anything in his defence, Simmons hurried over, and he realised Ward must’ve radioed the doctor somewhere between shooting their assailant and rushing towards May. Jesus, he was really out of it.

“Give her some space,” the Brit demanded, kneeling next to May and opening a large first aid case.

Melinda coughed again, following the wet sound with a slow intake of breath. Simmons pulled out a large pair of medical scissors, cutting away May’s leather vest and the T-shirt underneath, revealing a flat stomach and a tanned chest slick with blood.

“Two bullet wounds in the abdomen, one in the chest,” Jemma informed them, pressing at the injuries. Blood bubbled up in May’s throat, red spittle staining her beautiful cheeks. “No exit wounds, suspected pneumothorax,” Simmons continued. “We need to get her to a hospital as soon as possible; there’s only so much I can do for her.”

Coulson nodded. “All right, let’s get her up,” he said and went to lift the injured woman, only for Ward to step in and pick her up himself.

“I’ve got her,” the specialist grunted, shooting Phil a scathing look.

“Right,” Phil agreed, trailing after the taller man. His brain was still struggling to catch up with the seriousness of the situation. May got hurt, seriously hurt, while she had been protecting him. It wasn’t the first time that had happened and it most likely wouldn’t be the last, however much he might wish it were - that was the reality of being a specialist.

They rushed up the cargo hold ramp, Ward setting May down on a table in the lab, where Simmons started getting herself ready for an emergency surgery. Fitz and Skye, wide-eyed and scared, watched the proceedings from behind the security glass.

“Ward, get us in the air,” Phil ordered once he realised the plane was going nowhere as Melinda wasn’t in the pilot seat.

The specialist shot him another glare but ran off without any complaints. A couple seconds later, the plane began whirring to life.

“What happened?” asked Skye, voice tiny.

Coulson cleared his throat. “She, uh, she jumped in front of a bullet for me,” he explained, feeling horrible.

Skye choked off a sob, while Simmons’ surgical instruments clanked behind him. “Is she gonna be okay?” Fitz questioned. “I mean, she’s the Cavalry, she’s gonna be fine, right?”

Jemma snapped at him, “She’s still human, Fitz.”

The engineer looked cowed. “Right,” he mumbled, clutching at Skye’s arm.

Coulson shooed them away with a wave of his hand. “Go sit upstairs,” he told them. “You don’t need to see this. I’ll stay here in case Simmons needs any help.”

The two young agents nodded their heads, eyes still trained on their injured superior officer.

“Go,” he repeated, startling them and finally prompting the duo to move. Phil turned to Simmons. “Anything I can do?”

The doctor looked up from where she had a pair of what looked like pliers stuck in one of the holes in May’s stomach. Jesus. “You could get me a bag of O positive out of that fridge.” She motioned with a gloved hand covered in May’s blood.

“Good, I can do that,” he muttered to himself, quickly searching out the appropriate bag. “What now?” he wondered, looking around.

“Put it on top of that thermoblock over there,” Jemma directed him. “Keep it there until it’s a runny consistency.”

Phil did as he was told, watching the set up skeptically. “Seems a bit, improvised,” he commented.

“Do you mind, sir?” Jemma cried out, frustration tingeing her voice. “I’m trying to save a life here; I need to concentrate.”

Coulson looked at the English scientist, his eyebrows furrowing. The poor girl was a mess, he realised. “Hey, Jemma,” he began in a calming voice, “you’re doing good. Don’t worry, you’ve got this.”

She looked like she was about to cry. “I’m not a surgeon, sir. I’m not really even a doctor.” She paused, before whispering, “I don’t know if I can do this.”

He walked closer, squeezing her shoulder briefly. “Of course you can,” he assured her. “Just concentrate, talk out loud if you need to, and do it.”

The young woman visibly steeled herself, taking a deep breath, and went back to work, trying to stop the worst of the bleeding. A couple minutes later, she asked him, “Is that blood ready?”

He checked the bag and, figuring the red liquid inside was runny enough, he answered, “I think so.”

The next couple of minutes were probably the most hectic in his life - Simmons kept asking for stuff he had no clue even existed, Phil couldn’t stop watching his best friend’s blood staining everything it touched, and curses were flying left and right as the plane didn’t sail as smoothly as they were used to.

“Five minutes to landing,” came Ward’s voice suddenly over the intercom, and Coulson sighed with relief.

He raised his eyes to Simmons’. “She gonna make it?”

The scientist returned his look with a weak smile. “I hope so. The bullets didn’t hit any major arteries,” she informed him with a hopeful look. “Agent May is otherwise in a very good physical condition; her immune system is impeccable; and, this not being the first time she has been shot according to her medical file, she already knows she can pull through.”

The plane began the landing manoeuvre, a little shaky in Ward’s hands but still pretty impressive, and Phil started clearing the way from the lab to the ramp - the doctors would have to roll up a stretcher or something, because they still had Melinda on the table.

The ramp began lowering even before the Bus had fully touched down, and Coulson could see a team of doctors already waiting for them. Someone had clearly had the sense to call ahead - unlike Phil, who was pretty much useless at the moment.

The hospital personnel rushed the wounded specialist off, Simmons following them as she explained May’s condition. That left the rest of the team standing awkwardly in the cargo hold.

“She’s gonna be fine,” he told them, not sure who he was trying to convince.

“No thanks to you,” Ward growled as he pushed past him, intent on following his lover inside the hospital.

Phil stopped him with a hand on the arm. “Ward,” he said tightly.

The male specialist whirled around. “You were too slow to move and she’s paying for it, sir!” he fumed.

“I know,” Phil admitted quietly. “She always has my back.”

Grant snorted, unamused. “You shouldn’t expect her to act like your bulletproof vests,” he deadpanned, before turning back around and finally leaving.

Coulson snarled after the other man, kicking the tyre of the SUV he was standing next to. Ward wasn’t the only one who was pissed - while Phil had been trying not to think about it too much, the truth was that he was fully aware of whose fault May’s injuries were.

“AC?” Skye piped up hesitantly, touching his back.

Letting out a long sigh, trying to calm himself down, he gave the girl a half-hearted smile. “We should go after him; I want to know as soon as there is any news.”

The computer hacker nodded. “Yeah, but you should maybe take a shower first,” she suggested. “You’re covered in-” she broke off, breath hitching.

“Blood,” Phil finished for her. “Yeah, it’s everywhere.” And how the hell could someone so small lose so much damned blood and still have enough left for her heart to push around?

Taking off his suit jacket and letting it drop to the floor - it had taken the worst of it and there was no need to dirty up the whole plane - he made his way upstairs to the small shower behind the cockpit, shedding the rest of his clothes.

 

Once he was mostly clean - some of his friend’s blood was still behind his nails but he didn’t have time to get rid of it all - he got dressed and went to join the rest of his team in the OR waiting room. They were all sitting quietly side by side, not talking, just watching their feet. Phil shuffled over to Simmons, whispering to her, “Go wash up. You’ll feel better.”

She looked up at him with red-rimmed eyes. “What if I did something wrong?” she demanded tearfully. “What if I missed something?”

He put a hand on her shoulder. “You did good, Jemma,” he assured her. “Now go and take that shower. We’ll come get you if we hear any news before you’re back.”

The Englishwoman sighed, nodding once. “All right. I’ll be right back,” she whispered and, with a squeeze of Fitz’s hand, rose and left.

Coulson flopped down into the abandoned seat with a ragged sigh. Ward, who had been in the seat to his right, immediately stood up to get away from him.

A little tired of the younger man’s attitude, Phil shot him an annoyed look. They were all worried about Melinda; just because Grant was sleeping with her didn’t mean the rest of them cared any less. Instead of confronting the man though, Phil merely stared at the wall in front of him - Ward would get over it soon.

An hour later, there were still no news and the glares he was getting from the specialist were starting to attract attention from the other people in the waiting room. Phil had to do something about it, before either of them did something stupid that would get them thrown out - like punch a wall, or each other.

“Ward,” he stated quietly, standing and motioning for the man to follow him. Thankfully, while angry, the man was still a professional and followed the unspoken order.

Coulson led the other man out of the room and down the hall, stopping behind a coffee machine.

“Sir-” the younger man said as soon as they were facing each other.

Phil interrupted him, “No, you’ve said your piece; now it’s my turn.” He waited for Ward to nod in acknowledgment, before continuing, “I understand that you’re angry but you have to control yourself, Agent Ward. It is May’s job to protect the team and as much as you might not like it, as the commanding officer, my safety comes first. May knows that, FitzSimmons know that, and you know that too.”

He paused for breath, judging Grant’s reaction to his words. The specialist’s face was as impassive as ever, and he didn’t meet Phil’s eyes.

Coulson went on, “Now, I know what’s going on between the two of you, but I cannot tolerate your behaviour any longer. You need to calm down, do some breathing exercises or something, and come back only when you’re ready to stop glaring at me. Understood?”

“Understood,” Ward answered tightly, still not meeting his eyes.

“Grant,” Phil sighed, feeling a little sympathetic towards the other man after all. “The two of you assured me it was just sex. Are you sure you-”

His words were interrupted by a sharp gasp coming from somewhere behind him. Turning around, Coulson noticed a teary-eyed Skye, standing frozen in the middle of the corridor.

“Um,” the girl forced out. “I came to tell you that May’s out of surgery. Um,” she swallowed a shuddering sob. “She’s gonna be okay.” And with those words, the hacker rushed off in the direction of the bathrooms, clearly holding back sobs.

Phil gave Ward a confused look, receiving only a blasé shrug in response. His worry about Skye was however overshadowed by the enormous relief of knowing May was once again going to pull through. Letting the good news slowly flow through his body, he let out a long sigh of relief. When he took everything into consideration, this time it hadn’t been as bad as it was on that mission in Belarus.

Ward and everything else suddenly seemed a lot less important. He’d just deal with all the drama later; for now he was going to go and see Melinda and truly assure himself that all was well with her.

**Author's Note:**

> P.S. I know it doesn't look like it right now, but I promise Phillinda is the endgame in this series :)


End file.
